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confusion with pass

  • 15 February 2023
  • 11 replies
  • 130 views

Hey, I’m from the UK and me and my friend are hoping to go on a small interrail trip this summer. But I’m struggling on which pass to get, I’m travelling from my home in the UK to obviously start in London (not staying just to get the euro star) and we plan to go to amsterdam, krakow, Budapest and vienna then obviously back home. I understand krakow and Budapest are quite far so may need to add a stop in Berlin or something there. This is provisional but with the pass I am confused to wether me travelling to and from london counts as a travel day. And what pass would be best. We didn’t know whether the 4 or 5 day pass, we still aren’t sure if we will add Berlin but either way, we just need some guidance on what pass to get and more info about getting to and from london with the pass as we also have to make a reservation on that train to amsterdam.

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Best answer by thibcabe 15 February 2023, 20:29

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11 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

For any travel, you need a valid travel day, so also for a journey to/from London.

To see how many travel days you need, first make a plan with a good planner, e.g. with the Deutsche Bahn planner (bahn.com).

do I need 2 travel days one for going and one for returning. Because that’s my place of residence and I thought there was different rules for that.

Userlevel 7
Badge +3

do I need 2 travel days one for going and one for returning. Because that’s my place of residence and I thought there was different rules for that.

 

Any travel you use the pass for requires a day to be used.

If you travel 1 mile or 1000 miles in a day and do it using a pass it requires a day to be activated.

As you haven’t said where in the UK you are coming from or if you intend to travel from there to London and onward to Mainland Europe in one day or stay overnight in London it is difficult to give any practical advice.

You only have 2 days to use in your home country, this includes any domestic travel as well as international journeys to/from your home country, for UK that means Eurostar.

Hello, I will be starting my trip in London, I’ll be going from my home town (liverpool) to london we won’t be stopping off I will be getting there early ready to get the Eurostar to amsterdam, then at the end of the trip going from vienna back to london, I hope this makes sense?

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Yes, you need for the travel from Liverpool to London and for the Eurostar to mainland Europe to use one travel day. 

You can use a travel day everywhere in Europe exept in your home country. There you can use it only 2 times.

A travel day starts from 00:00 CET to 23:59 CET. In this time you can use so many trains you want (please keep in mind that some trains need a reservation). The train arrives after midnight at destination? No problem, it should have a sceduled departure time before 23:59 CET. If you change trains after midnight you use a new travel day.

So my return from vienna to london isnt an extra travel day at the end of it is that right? So which pass would you recommend?

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

So my return from vienna to london isnt an extra travel day at the end of it is that right? So which pass would you recommend?

Have you made a plan, with timetable, as I suggested? Once you have that, you'll see how many travel days you'll need.

I tried to do this, but I know I’m going to need 5 days of travelling from amsterdam, Berlin, krakow, Budapest, vienna, but I just don’t know if I need 1 or to travel days to get to and from my home place (London) that’s the part I need the help :)

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

No it is not. How many days will you travel? You can also check if booking a saver ticket for a short trip (like Budapest-Vienna), where there are 2 train companies on this route: Railjet train of ÖBB and MAV Start and the competitor Ragiojet.

Or you buy a pass with one more day.

Yes for a train from Budapest to vienna that is about 14 pounds, I’ll be travelling london to amsterdam to Berlin to krakow to Budapest to vienna back to london (home) so technically 6 days of travelling however there is 2 days inbound and outbound home. Is this the info u needed

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

The travel days in your home country are part of your pass days.

So you’d need :

  • Day 1 Liverpool - London - Amsterdam
  • Day 2 Amsterdam - Berlin
  • Day 3 Berlin - Krakow
  • Day 4 Krakow - Budapest
  • Day 5 Vienna - Frankfurt - Brussels - London - Liverpool → this is an extremely long travel day, leaving at 6:49 and arriving at midnight if all goes to plan

I’d recommend splitting the last day into two : making a stop in Brussels would be a good idea. It would then mean a 10-hour and a 7-hour journey (at least).

Another option would be taking the night train between Vienna and Brussels (book early). There is a fee for couchettes but it saves a night accomodation. Of course the Brussels - Liverpool leg would also need an extra travel day.

It’s now your job to determine whether a 5 or a 7-day pass is worth it.

Note that the Eurostar requires a 30€ seat reservation fee and often sells out weeks in advance.

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